A Warrior's Life is Just Too Unfair
by Kyniska
Summary: This is a story about a warrior who thinks Clan life stinks. She almost starves because she can't hunt very well and most of her family is dead. Basically, the downside of being a warrior.


**This is a story about the bad side of being a warrior. You know, everyone always says that being a warrior is so great and it's so wonderful to fight and maybe die for the Clan. But there are downsides to that too. This is set in the mind of a warrior named Birdsong. She used to be a queen and one of her kits just died in battle. At the end she decides to kill herself because everyone she had loved had died and she hates her life. She isn't the best hunter so she doesn't eat as much as she should to stay alive because of course, if you can't hunt, you can't eat. If you can't feed the Clan, the Clan can't feed you). Anyway, just READ THE STORY. (And don't forget to review at the end)**

A Warrior's Life is Just Unfair

Birdsong crouched beside her dead son's body. She gave out a low wail. Why did he have to go to battle? But she knew. His loyalty to his leader had never ceased. He had gone to battle because his leader asked him to. Birdsong hated that warrior code. Never keep secrets from your Clan, protect your Clan at the cost of you life. What kind of Clan put you in such danger that you could be killed? Birdsong had seen too much death in her life. Her mother, father, sister, leader, and now her son. They had all been takenfrom her. Taken from her by the "warrior code". Birdsong slowly walked to the fresh-kill pile, intent on strengthening her weakened body by having a good meal, but a paw bared her way.

"You don't get any fresh-kill." A gruff voice beside her meowed. She turned to see Nightpool, the SnowClan deputy staring at her with cold eyes.

"You didn't bring back enough fresh-kill or fight in the battle today. You don't get to take a piece of fresh-kill today." Birdsong blinked and then slowly backed away. It was the warrior code again. She had been hunting most of the day but she was not a very good hunter and she had only brought back a few pieces of fresh-kill that had been devoured almost immediately by the elders and queens. She had fed the Clan, at least some of it. Why were they keeping her from eating? If StarClan cared so much for the Clans why did they create a code that starved cats that couldn't move as fast as lightning? Birdsong hadn't had a good meal in days.

Birdsong left the fresh-kill pile and went to the edge of the camp clearing. She didn't want to be near any of the Clan at the moment. Her poor son. He had gone off to battle only to come back dead. Her last words to him had been "Fight well for your Clan and I will be proud of you son." What did those words mean to her now? What did they mean to him in StarClan? Fighting for his Clan had given him nothing. Only death. They hadn't even won the battle. Her son had died for nothing. Nothing. That was all the Clan was. Fellowship. Hope. That was what the Clan believed in. If you died you died. Everything was about the Clan. Nothing was about the Clan cats that died to preserve the stronghold of the rest. Birdsong hated all the death that passed through the Clan. Why did she have to be born here? Territories, rivalry, killing. Why did life have to be like this? Birdsong hated her life. Her kits were dying, she herself was starving… Everything was breaking up… Birdsong wanted to die. The Clan wouldn't care. They might not even notice. So long as the greater good of the Clan was still intact all they would do is have a little burial session, a couple of wailing cats, and then the leader saying: "Though she was a great warrior and will be missed greatly, Birdsong would want us to continue hunting and fighting for our Clan..." It was the same every time a cat died. Birdsong was tired of it. She was going to leave. And never come back. She was going to kill herself. At least she would be reunited with her son. But then again, he most likely went to StarClan and she most certainly wouldn't. Would she spend her afterlife pacing the skies, with no place to go? If that were so then she would take it. She just wanted to leave this world of injustice and cruelty.

Birdsong trotted to the river that flowed through SnowClan and FireClan territory. She took a deep breath and shouted to the skies "I love you Acorntail. Do not forget me." With these words she flung herself into the river. She floated for a moment but she forced herself to go down. To sink. She felt herself hitting the bottom of the river. All of her senses screamed for her to rise up and get to the air but she ignored them. Slowly she felt her chest stop moving. Her eyes went black. She didn't know what was up or down. Everything was fading…

"_Don't do it Graypool."_ She heard a voice speaking in the distance. The voice continued.

"_She doesn't belong here."_

"_But she is a warrior. Her spirit is strong and her heart is true. She was just overwhelmed and being treated unfairly." _Another voice spoke.

"_But she insulted us and our code."_

"_She did not know any better."_ There was a pause.

"_Very well. I will accept her but remember Graypool, you were the one who brought her here. Now wake her up."_ Birdsong felt her senses awaken again. She opened her eyes slowly. Many cats stood before her, big and small. She saw a familiar face step out of the crowd.

"_Welcome to StarClan Mother." _Acorntail, Birdsong's dead son meowed. Birdsong slowly got up and padded toward her son, her mind finally at peace.

**So what did you think? The ending is kind-of like another story I've read but I really like it and I wanted to incorporate the ending in one of my stories. I still think being a warrior is wonderful and that the warrior code is rightful but I just wanted everyone to think about how it is for cats that aren't like Firestar. Cats who are good warriors but not great. Cats who never get any breaks. Please review. Bye.**


End file.
